(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly with excellent light efficiency and a display device provided with the backlight assembly, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly with light efficiency enhanced by changing an arrangement of light sources and a display device provided with the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Due to recent developments in semiconductor technologies, the demand for display devices having small size, small weight, and high performance has increased dramatically.
Liquid crystal display (“LCD”) devices have advantages such as small size, small weight, and low power consumption. Therefore, much attention has been paid to LCD devices as a substitute for cathode ray tubes (“CRTs”). LCD devices are widely used for office or home appliances, such as monitors and televisions that require a display device.
Generally, LCD devices change a specific molecular alignment of liquid crystal to different molecular alignments with an application of a voltage, and convert a change in optical characteristics, such as birefringence, optical rotary power, dichroism, and optical scattering, of liquid crystal cells emitting light due to the change in molecular alignment into a visual change. That is, LCD devices display information by using optical modulation in the liquid crystal cells.
The LCD device is not a self-emitting device, and is instead a light receiving display device that requires a backlight assembly for supplying light to display an image. The backlight assembly includes a light source for emitting light. A large-sized LCD device, such as an LCD television, is provided with a plurality of light sources so as to provide a clear image.
In such a large-sized LCD device, light emitted from the light sources forms a display area. The display area is an area from which the light is emitted, and serves to supply the light to an LCD panel to display an image. The brightness of the large-sized LCD device is usually lower at the edges than at the center.
Conventionally, such a problem is solved by disposing the light sources close to the edges of the display area. In this case, unnecessary light is concentrated on the edges, thereby causing optical loss. In addition, since the pitches between lamps are widened, bright lines may be generated. In order to prevent the generation of the bright lines, a distance between the lamps and a diffusing plate positioned thereon can be widened. However, this causes an increased thickness of the LCD device.
When the light sources are disposed adjacent to the edges of the display area, the light sources are spaced further apart from each other in the center region of the display area, thereby causing a problem of decreased brightness at the center region of the display area. Since viewers tend to concentrate their eyes on the center of the LCD television rather than the edges thereof, such viewers judge the definition of an image with reference to the center of the screen and thus visualize a decrease in brightness with their naked eyes.